Week Ending 21st August

Brynmor · 21. Aug 2020, 11:51

Totally distracted from a video-call yesterday by the sight of a grey squirrel on our house wall having a face off with the neighbour's young cat. With a hugely fluffed up tail, the squirrel repeatedly jumped out horizontally from the wall and back again in complete defiance of gravity! Amazing!

1. My Triumphs

The fantastic account of the triumphs of @MrsTiggywinkle is well worth taking time to have a read. Moving on to something less stressful after a huge personal achievement and then planning for the future with a possibility to becoming fully self-employed. We wish her all the best 😄

2. Research: How can studying the immune system help arthritis treatments in the future?

Understanding more about the immune system and the role it plays in conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis will help us to develop more effective treatments in the future.

Our funded research was instrumental in discovering the class of treatments for inflammatory arthritis known as biologics.

Our clinical trial in 1994 demonstrated the effectiveness of anti-TNF therapy in rheumatoid arthritis and led to the development of anti-TNF drugs (like infliximab), which have treated millions of patients with inflammatory disease since approval in 1998.

Read more about our commitments to research which aims to improve the quality of life for people with arthritis .

3. My pandemic epiphany

Came across this article last weekend from The Guardian newspaper: My pandemic epiphany: watching the world open up for disabled people.

Overnight, parts of every day living - work, the arts, education, socializing - that had disappeared from disabled people’s lives due to a mix of poor access or health conditions were available again.

At a time in which the general population – including disabled people – had never been more restricted, there was a paradoxical sense of freedom. Suddenly, everyone was a little housebound and life opened up because of it.

4. Featured Story: Sara - life with psoriatic arthritis

Sara, 29, has psoriatic arthritis and has had psoriasis since she was six. Being able to share her experiences with her sister and father, who also have autoimmune conditions was the inspiration to get her life back after her diagnosis when she was 20.

"It was hard hearing about the arthritis."

I was diagnosed with psoriasis when I was six and psoriatic arthritis when I was 20. It took a year to get the diagnosis.

My dad has the same condition and one of my sisters has lupus, so the rheumatologist knew me and knew almost right away that I have psoriatic arthritis.

Continue Reading Sara's Story

5. How to manage your pain at home

We know many of you are adjusting to the easing of lockdown and are managing your pain at home while waiting for services to restart.

Over 17,000 of you have signed our Impossible to Ignore petition which is campaigning for assurances surgery can restart safely, and you’ve shared your experiences about how it feels to be waiting for surgery and treatments as appointments have been delayed.

People experience pain in different ways and have good and bad days.